Flags again

After my last comments on the car flags that are all over the place, I think I have to rethink my opinion.

Because now they're utterly ubiquitous, which means that they're on all kinds of peoples' cars. Sure, pretty much every white van is flagged up, but - certainly in London - you'll see posh blokes in Mercs, black mums on the school run, just about every kind of person, with their St George's flags out.

And that means it really has just become a symbol of support for the football team and nothing else. And that makes me feel good.

What makes me feel better still, in London, is that you begin to see other nations flags appearing too. It's regional - so in Stockwell you see Portuguese and Brazilian car flags, elsewhere perhaps Ghanaian ones. There's a fair South African presence in Earlsfield - although less than you'd expect, perhaps because they're all rugby fans who don't really care about football.

But, whatever the reason, I'm now beginning to get a rather nice warm feeling from the flood of flags.